Although the pancreas plays a major role in digestion, it has not received investigative attention directed to the stomach, intestine, or liver. The reasons for this lack of investigative attention probably relate to difficulties in establishing a clinical diagnosis, the lack of direct methods to study the pancreas, and misconceptions concerning the rarity of pancreatic disease. This broadly-based research effort is designed to provide fundamental information concerning nutritional and hormonal influences on pancreatic ductal cell and acinar cell function. The specific aims embodied in these projects are: 1. To study nutritional and hormonal influences on isolated pancreatic ductal cells. These studies will involve biochemical and morphologic investigations of ductal cell isolated by density gradient methods. 2. Studies concerned with mechanisms of acinar cell secretion. 3. Studies of cholinergic and cholecystokinin-pancreozymin receptor sites using isolated pancreatic plasma cell membranes. 4. Studies examining the role that cyclic AMP and GMP play in modulating pancreatic cell function. 5. Extension of studies examining nutritional and hormonal influences on pancreatic protein and RNA synthesis. 6. Nutritional and hormonal influences on pancreatic acinar cell intermediary metabolism. 7. Nutritional and hormonal influences on amino acid transport, and 8. Control of pancreatic growth and DNA synthesis. These studies are designed to provide basic information concerning many aspects of normal pancreatic acinar and ductal cell function. It is anticipated that once this fundamental information is available, then experiments may be designed which will provide information concerning the role that chemicals, drugs, and alcohol play in the etiology or causation of certain pancreatic diseases such as acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, and carcinoma of the pancreas. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: Singh, M., and Webster, P.D.: A review of macromolecular transport and secretion at the cellular level. Am. J. Dig. Dis. 21:346-355, 1976.